Shutdown deadline passes without a deal

Ken Dixon

Updated 1:11 am, Tuesday, October 1, 2013

House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio walks to a House Republican Conference meeting to discuss the ongoing budget fight, Monday, Sept. 30, 2013, on Capitol Hill in Washington. Republican unity showed unmistakable signs of fraying Monday as Democrats and the White House vowed to reject tea party-driven demands to delay the nation's health care overhaul as the price for averting a partial government shutdown at midnight.
Photo: Evan Vucci

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Worst-case scenarioNon-essential federal employees face furloughs. About 9,000 federal workers are employed in Connecticut.National parks to be closed.Head Start preschool classes and Small Business Administration programs subject to suspension.The U.S. Postal Service continues deliveries; air traffic controllers stay on the job.

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As the partisan Washington train headed toward its scheduled crash, state officials and members of Connecticut's congressional delegation worried Monday about the effect of a federal shutdown on a fragile economy. After the midnight deadline for a budget agreement passed with no resolution, the shutdown of non-essential services officially took effect, even as Democrats and Republicans continued to blame each other in the House and Senate.

With no last-minute political retreat by Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives, the nation headed into its first full-scale federal shutdown since 1995.

"This is essentially just one big Republican tea party temper tantrum," U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said Monday afternoon. "This is not about politics, as it seems to be for a lot of these tea party Republicans. This is about people's jobs."

The Democrat-dominated Senate had approved a continuing resolution that could have kept the government in operation. But from the start, that measure seemed to have little chance in the Republican-controlled House, which wanted to delay the Affordable Care Act that will begin signing up participants Tuesday.

"All of this is entirely preventable if the House chooses what the Senate has already done," said President Barack Obama during a brief, 5 p.m. appearance in the White House press room.

Later, with Congress gridlocked, The Associated Press reported that Obama said a "shutdown will have a very real economic impact on real people, right away," with hundreds of thousands of federal workers furloughed and veterans' centers, national parks, most of the space agency and other government operations shuttered.

He laid the blame at the feet of House Republicans, whom he accused of seeking to tie government funding to ideological demands, "all to save face after making some impossible promises to the extreme right wing of their party," according to AP.

In Connecticut, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy had urged Republicans on Monday afternoon to reconsider their position.

"The citizens of the United States deserve better," Malloy said. "I call on House Republicans to set aside partisanship and rigid ideology, pass a clean continuing resolution and a clean increase in the statutory debt limit. Only then can Congress address the important issues of our day in a manner that reflect the ideals of our Founding Fathers."

Even a few days of federal shutdown could affect the state's Gross Domestic Product by $13 million -- the equivalent of 300 lost jobs -- according to Steven Lanza, a UConn economist. Appearing Monday with U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., at a Glastonbury manufacturing company, Lanza said a monthlong shutdown of non-essential federal employees could cost $100 million and 2,000 jobs in Connecticut.

"Today, the Senate approved a simple, clean resolution that would continue essential government services and easily pass the House of Representatives if only Speaker Boehner permitted a vote," Blumenthal said in a late-afternoon statement. "Political gamesmanship and budget brinksmanship are endangering our economy and American people's trust and confidence in our government."

Meanwhile, another ominous federal default is set for Oct. 17, if the nation's debt ceiling isn't increased.

Connecticut officials have taken a wait-and-see attitude on what damage the state might sustain from a shutdown, which would also close national parks and museums. There are 9,000 federal employees in the state, most of whom would face furloughs.

"I was told that until further notice the program was shut down," Bryant said, adding that the same was true with similar Bridgeport programs.

"This is distressing to parents who can't afford to pay for preschool and after-school programs," she said. "What are we supposed to do now?"

U.S. District Judge Janet C. Hall, who presides in the Connecticut District, said the federal court system has enough money to operate for 10 business days. The U.S. Attorney's Office has advised its lawyers handling civil cases not to report to work Tuesday if there is a shutdown. Prosecutors were advised to report.

Connecticut's Medicaid health care programs depend on federal funds for reimbursement that could be delayed by a shutdown, and senior citizens could find their applications held up. During a shutdown, air traffic controllers would remain on duty and the U.S. Postal Service will continue deliveries, but veterans' services could be suspended.

Benjamin Barnes, secretary of the state Office of Policy and Management, has been studying contingencies if the shutdown affects the state budget, including spending cuts, a hiring freeze and limits on new contracts. While Barnes cannot order legislative and judicial agencies or higher education to contemplate belt-tightening, he suggested they also prepare for the worst.